Theme:  Landscape
Lesson Plan Title American Landscape and its reflections in the course of history
Subject areas: Visual Arts; U.S. History; Hudson River School: landscape painting
Skills covered:
Analyzing primary sources
Observation and description
Internet research skills
Writing

General Goal:
1. Introduce American Landscape of the 19 century.
2. Understand the esthetic issues around nature, found in America.
Specific objectives:
At the end of the lesson students will be able to:

Materials/ Visual Aids:
“Picturing America” Educators Resource Book
Artwork 5a View from Mount Holyoke (The Oxbow), 1836
Thomas Cole’s “Essay on American Scenery” (“Love of Nature”, “Appreciating American Scenery”)
Time: 45 min
Step-by-step procedures:
Lead-In: whole class activity (7 min)

Activity 1. The teacher gives a presentation about Hudson River School. (6 min)
 Activity 2.

A. Encourage students to carefully examine the painting for 2 minutes and describe it. ( in pairs ) (10 min)
What details--such as people, objects, do you notice?
What information about the time period, location, and season can you gather from this painting?
What can you see in the foreground? In the middle? In the background?
Is the painting in somewhat religious? (The teacher presents religious aspects of the painting)

B. Identify the contrasts in the painting (whole class activity) (7 min)
Have students identify other contrasts. Ask for students ideas. The teacher facilitates this discussion and fills in the Venn Diagram.
Dark-light (The teacher only presents this option.) Ask for students ideas.
Hill-valley
Low land-hills
Wilderness-farmland
Land-water
Dark green-light green

C. Interpreting the content (group activity) (8 min)
Create three groups and assign a question to each to discuss.
1.  By selecting a panoramic view from a height above the valley, what is the artist suggesting.
2. The storm adds dynamism as does the twisted tree in the foreground. Why does the artist paint himself as a small, but significant figure.
3. What is ambivalence? Is the artist’s message here ambivalent about the relationship of man and nature?
Which message do you get?
Is nature stronger than man?
Should man control nature?

D. Reporting back to the class from discussion. (6 min)

Closure:
Ask students about three things they learned, two questions they have, and one thing they liked.

Extensions:

Homework:
Make a project.

Thomas Cole’s “Essay on American Scenery” Source: Internet www.csun.edu/~ta3584/Cole.htm  and www.lessonwriter.com

Vocabulary
1. allude-(v) - To hint at. To talk about something without directly talking about it/ упоминать ,ссылаться
2. encompass-(v) - To include/заключать в себе
3. perception-(n) - A feeling or Information gotten by the senses, not words/восприятие
4. salutation-(n) - Any form of greeting, hailing, or welcome, whether by word or act/приветствие
5. sensual-(adj) - Related to the body's senses and pleasure/чувственный
6. cultivate-(v) - To help grow or develop/культивировать, развивать
7. devoid-(adj) – Without/лишенный
8. gaze-(v) - Look calmly/ пристально смотреть
9. drift-(v) - To travel without steering or guiding, go in the same direction as the wind or water/плыть по течению
10. cease-(v) - Stop doing something/прекращать ,останавливать
11. wreath-(n) - A decoration made by tying flowers, branches and leaves together in a circle/венок
12. obtain-(v) – Get/получать
13. bound-(v) - The limit or end/ограничивать
14. refine-(v) - To make pure by removing unwanted substances/ делать более изящным,  совершенствовать
15. selfish-(adj) - Caring only for oneself; not caring for other people/эгоистичный

2 Reading Abstract from Thomas Cole’s “Essay on American Scenery”  [1. The Contemplation of Scenery as a Source of Delight and Improvement]

He who looks on nature with a "loving eye,"…………., and human deeds hallowed all around.

And it is here that taste, which is the perception of the beautiful, and the knowledge of the principles on which nature works, can be applied, and our dwelling-places made fitting for refined and intellectual beings.

3 Comprehension Questions

1. Where should city-dwellers go to escape "turmoil"?

__________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

2. What does Cole describe as "that wreath of glory daily bound around the world"?

___________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

3. What kind of delights can a man experience in nature?

____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

4. Does Cole believe that "human hands" spoil, have no effect on, or improve nature?

____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

5. Is "cultivated scenery" as important as "wild scenery"?

___________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

6. How does taste, according to Cole, create appropriate places for cultured, thinking people to live?

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

4 Vocabulary

1. There's a Christmas _______________________ on the door.
2. Her boss told her to _______________________ whistling at work.
3. The bottle _______________________ in the ocean for years before it washed up on the beach.
4. He _______________________ a degree in engineering.
5. On the bus, putting your feet on the seat next to you is _______________________.
6. White rice is more _______________________ than brown rice.
7. The US is _______________________ by the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific in the west.
8. The young couple held each other and _______________________ at the sunset.
9. In everything sudden and unexpected, we are apt to start; that is, we have a _______________________ of danger, and our nature rouses us to guard against it. - E Burke - On the Sublime and Beautiful
10. Cooking _______________________ many ways of heating food: boiling, frying, roasting, etc..
11. He _______________________ to the war when he spoke of his country's current problems.
12. The man raised his hand in _______________________ as we entered the room.
13. She hates me. She smiled, but the smile was _______________________ of warmth.
14. Oranges are _______________________ in Florida.
15. Sleeping on silk sheets is _______________________.

Keys
1)wreath
2)cease
3)drifted
4)obtained
5)selfish
6)refined
7)bound
8)gazed
9)perception
10)encompasses
11)alluded
12)salutation
13)devoid
14)cultivated
15)sensual
It is created with the help of www.lessonwriter.com
Appreciating American Scenery and Wildness  (Abstract from Thomas Cole’s “Essay on American Scenery”). www.csun.edu/~ta3584/Cole.htm
     Source: www.csun.edu/~ta3584/Cole.htm and www.lessonwriter.com

1. pass away-(pv) – die /умереть
2. destitute-(adj) - Without money or resources; extremely poor/ сильно нуждающийся лишенный
3. enlighten-(v) - To open the mind to new ways of thinking/ просвещать
4. magnificence-(n) - Showing greatness of action, character, intellect, wealth, or power /великолепие
5. monotonous-(adj) - Boring, constantly repeating without change /монотонный, однообразный
6. predominant-(adj) - The most common/  преобладающий ,господствующий
7. primeval-(adj) - Belonging to the first ages/ первобытный
8. primitive-(adj) - Related to the beginning; before civilization /примитивный , простой
9. cultivate-(v) - To help grow or develop/обрабатывать, культивировать,развивать
10. vast-(adj) - Very large/ обширный
11. distinctive-(adj) - Having a style different from most others/ отличительный , характерный
12. suspend-(v) - Stop temporarily/ приостанавливать
13. prejudice-(n) - A judgment or opinion formed without facts / предубеждение, предвзятое мнение
14. strive-(v) - Try to achieve a result/ стараться, прилагать усилия
15. circumstance-(n) - Condition or situation/обстоятельство, случай
16. wilderness-(n) - Land in its natural conditional/дикая местность
17. scarcely-(adv) - To a small degree or amount/ едва
18. behold-(v) - To see or look at /смотреть ,созерцать
.
2 Reading Thomas Cole’s “Essay on American Scenery” Source: Internet www.csun.edu/~ta3584/Cole.htm  and www.lessonwriter.com
[The Elements of American Scenery]
[Wildness]

3 Comprehension Questions

Select the correct answer for following multiple choice questions.

1. Some people claim that American scenery is:
( A ) sublime
( B ) interesting
( C ) picturesque
( D ) monotonous

2. Cole is trying to...
( A ) Say European nature isn't spectacular
( B ) Infer American nature is inferior to European
( C ) Say European scenery is best
( D ) Argue American nature has special features

3. Cole claims that some Americans can't see beauty until:
( A ) they go to the mountains
( B ) they visit foreign countries
( C ) they open their eyes
( D ) they study art

Select the correct answer for following multiple choice questions.

4. In paragraphs 3 & 4, Cole is saying that:
( A ) Wildness is a distinctive characteristic of American nature
( B ) Wildness is impressive and magical
( C ) The American Continent is very "new" and undeveloped.
( D ) Gloom is caused by savage beasts and men

4 Vocabulary
1. His telephone service was _______________________ because he forgot to pay the bill.
2. He is _______________________d against people from that country.
3. The ocean is _______________________.
4. She doesn't dress like her friends; her clothes are always _______________________.
5. The door was so low they could _______________________ walk through it.
6. They _______________________ the beautiful sky until the sun went down and it was too dark to see.
7. The _______________________ of her childhood were difficult.
8. Large parts of western Canada are _______________________.
9. He felt _______________________ after reading Plato.
10. The king's _______________________ was apparent when we saw his gigantic, expensive castle.
11. After their husbands _______________________ many women move to smaller homes.
12. Their homes and jobs were destroyed by the earthquake and they were all _______________________.
13. The teacher's _______________________ voice put the students to sleep.
14. Modern medicine keeps us alive longer, but _______________________ people died young.
15. Oranges are _______________________ in Florida.
16. English is the _______________________ language in the United States.
17. An old castle seems _______________________ compared to a new house

Keys
1)suspended
2)prejudice
3)vast
4)distinctive
5)scarcely
6)beheld
7)circumstances
8)wilderness
9)enlightened
10)magnificence
11)pass away
12)destitute
13)monotonous
14)cultivated
16)predominant
17)primeval

5 Focus on Grammar
A Identify

When we know something is true now we use a simple present tense of a verb. When we are not sure, we use a modal before the verb to show how likely we think it is. For example, if we see rain falling, we say "It is raining"
because we know it is; we are 100% sure.
If we are indoors and cannot see the weather but do see a wet person holding an umbrella, we say "It must be raining" because that is very likely true; we are 95% sure.
In cases where we are less certain, for example, if the newspaper said there was a chance of rain today but we cannot see outside, we say "It may be raining.", "It might be raining." or "It could be raining." (these three are all the same).
How sure is the speaker in the sentence(s) below?

1. But I would have it remembered that nature has shed over this land beauty and magnificence, and although the character of its scenery may differ from the old world's, yet inferiority must not therefore be inferred;
2. [ The Elements of American Scenery] There are those who through ignorance or prejudice strive to maintain that American scenery possesses little that is interesting or truly beautiful-- that it is rude without picturesqueness, and monotonous without sublimity-- that being destitute of those vestiges of antiquity, whose associations so strongly affect the mind, it may not be compared with European scenery.

B Practice - Sentence Writing
Write original sentences using the grammar in this exercise.

1. _________________________________________ _______________________________________

2. ___________________________________________ _____________________________________

3. __________________________________________ ______________________________________

4. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________

5. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________

modals-likelihood-present                    

List of References:
www.picturingamerica,neh.org
www.wikipedia.com  (about Hudson River School and Thomas Cole)
www.metmuseum.org
Thomas Cole’s essay (www.csun.edu)
www.lesson.com
GLOSSARY Artwork 5a View from Mount Holyoke (The Oxbow)
Verdure (n)  greenery: green foliage /зелень ,зеленая листва ,свежесть
Pastoral  (n)  a place, atmosphere, or idea is characteristic of peaceful country life and scenery/пастораль
Emblem  (n)  something that represents a quality or idea /символ
Ominous (adj)  threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments /зловещий ,угрожающий
Sacrilege (n)  behavior that shows great disrespect for a holy place or object/ святотатство ,кощунство
Ambivalence (n)  conflicting feelings or thoughts; uncertainty or indecisiveness as to what course to follow/раздвоение чувств